Imanari, Maeda advance, Aoki, Kawajiri victorious at DREAM.7

The 2008 DREAM featherweight grand prix kicked off on Saturday night with six of the tournament’s first round matchups, as well as three non-tournament bouts, on the DREAM.7 card at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

And while the opening round of the tournament did lend a few surprises, it was a successful night for the Japanese fans that were cheering on their countrymen as several of the event’s favored local stars moved on in the tournament.

The event was held on Sunday night in Japan and will air on a one-week tape delay on HDNet in the U.S.

The evening’s feature bout saw the always colorful Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) facing Pancrase and Shooto veteran Atsushi Yamamoto (12-6-1). The full antics of “Ashikan Judan” were on display, but Yamamoto avoided the distractions while proving himself a worthy adversary.

After dropping Imanari with a right hand in the first round, Yamamoto was content to fall into his opponent’s guard. Imanari used the position to work submission attempts in bunches, though none threatened to end the fight. The fighters were stood briefly due to a lull in action, but Imanari dove in and went straight back to the floor.

The second round saw Yamamoto more comfortable on the feet, punishing his opponent with leg kicks. Imanari worked hard to pull guard, finally successful in the last portion of the frame. Yamamoto clearly outworked his opponent in the period, but two of three judges felt Imanari’s first-round work outweighed the effort and awarded the 33-year-old the split-decision win.

With the win, Imanari moves on in the tournament and is now 7-1 in his past eight contests, while Yamamoto falls to just 2-3 in his past five outings.

In a battle that started as an uninspired kickboxing match, Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1) turned up the gas in the second round of his bout with debuting Korean fighter Jong Won Kim (0-1).

While the first-round action left little between the two fighters, a crushing right hand by Takaya crumpled Kim early in the second frame. A few more punches found their way through for the “Streetfight Bancho” before the action was halted at 40 seconds of the second round.

Takaya snapped a two-fight losing streak en route to the quarterfinals of the grand prix, while Kim drops his professional debut.

Former WEC products Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) and Micah Miller (10-3) came together in a contrast of grappling styles that put the ringside judges to the test.

Miller made no attempt to hide his intentions, and the American Top Team fighter jumped to guard when ever the position was available. Once locked in, Miller controlled Maeda well on the floor in spots with the rubber guard. Despite the position, the submission attempts were slow to come, and the Japanese fighter landed knees and punches from the top position in flurries.

The second round followed a similar pattern with Miller looking for submissions from the bottom and Maeda sneaking in blows from the top. It was a close bout, but all three judges saw it in favor of Maeda.

The victory ends a two-fight skid for Maeda and secures his position in the tournament’s final eight. Miller falls to just 1-2 in his past three bouts.

In one of three non-tournament bouts, Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) simply overwhelmed the outclassed Ross Ebanez (19-7).

After a bit of back-and-forth action to open the fight, Kawajiri brought Ebanez to the floor and moved immediately to full mount. As “Crusher” began to land increasingly heavy punches from the top, Ebanez tried to escape. When the Hawaiian could not work free, he rolled to his belly. Kawajiri immediately capitalized on the position by securing a body triangle and sneaking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke. Ebanez tapped at 4:03 of the opening frame.

Kawajiri bounces back from a July 2008 loss to Eddie Alvarez, while Ebanez loses for the first time in three contests.

Following the bout, Kawajiri took the microphone and publicly requested a May bout with Gesias “JZ” Calvancante in order to determine the next contender for Joachim Hansen’s DREAM lightweight belt.

WAMMA lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (20-3) took on lightly regarded David Gardner in a non-tournament affair. And while Aoki’s strategy was easily predictable, his path to victory was at least comical if not surprising.

After smothering his opponent for the majority of the opening frame, Aoki worked swiftly to Gardner’s back. With Gardner seated in a kneeling position, Aoki sunk in his hooks and looked for an opening. That opportunity came when Gardner, apparently unaware of his opponent’s submission prowess and bored by the pace of the fight, raised his arm and waved to the crowd, shouting, “Hello, Japan.” Aoki seized the moment, latched onto a rear-naked choke and squeezed tight.

Gardner fought the move and relented as long as possible. But his fate had been sealed by the careless error, and the American was forced to tap at 5:58 of the first round in one of the more comical submissions you’re ever likely to witness.

In another non-tournament lightweight bout, Japanese fighters Mitsuhiro Ishida (18-4-1) and Daisuke Nakamura (19-10) went toe-to-toe in a grappling-dominated contest for 15 minutes. While the “Endless Fighter” dominated the action in terms of wrestling, Nakamura put him in repeated dangerous situations from the bottom position.

Ishida dealt with the dangers well, avoiding any serious problems, and earned the unanimous decision. The win puts Ishida at 4-1 in his past five bouts. The loss snapped an eight-fight win streak for Nakamura.

King of the Cage and ShoXC veteran Abel Cullum (14-2) quickly turned his bout with Akiyo Nishiura (9-4-1) into a Brazilian jiu-jitsu clinic, working the action rapidly while on the floor.

Nishiura proved a game opponent as the onslaught of armbars, triangle chokes and omo platas were all defended effectively. Unfortunately for Nishiura, the constant threat of attack left him unable to mount any real offense of his own.

With little to show for his efforts, Nishiura dropped a unanimous decision. Cullum earned his spot in the featherweight tournament quarterfinals with his second-straight win.

WEC veteran Chase Beebe (12-4) brought experience to the ring in his bout with Greco-Roman wrestling champion Joe Warren (1-0), but it was the debuting professional that controlled the pace of the bout.

As Beebe attempted to throw his hands and avoid the takedown, Warren repeatedly pushed the action and landed with swift knees inside the clinch. The damage was generally superficial, but the points were adding up. As the opening frame came to a close, Warren scored with a knee up the middle that opened a huge gash on Beebe’s forehead. While Beebe made it through the final minute of the opening frame, ringside doctors could not allow him to continue.

Despite appearing in just his first professional bout, Warren advances to the quarterfinals with a first-round TKO.

The night’s opening contest started the event with a bit less excitement that DREAM officials may have hoped. A brief scramble to open saw Bibiano Fernandes (4-2) drag Takafumi Otsuka (9-3-1) to the floor and work quickly to half-mount. Unfortunately the Brazilian did little to advance the position for the next several minutes and received a yellow card for his efforts — or lack thereof.

The action picked up slightly in the remaining minutes of the opening frame, and Fernandes tagged his Japanese opponent frequently on the feet. Otsuka, his nose bloodied, taunted Fernandes with each strike, but the blows were finding their way through. A an accidental low blow to Otsuka stopped action with a minute remaining, and the opening round closed with little between the two.

The second round picked up a bit in pace. Fernandes seemed to swing a bit more freely, and attempted a rear-naked choke early in the frame. Otsuka stood and escaped, but Fernandes controlled the pace for the remainder of the frame.

In the end, the action was uninspiring, but it was enough to earn Fernandes a trip to the tournament’s quarterfinals with a unanimous decision win.

ALBANY, N.Y. – MMAjunkie is on scene and reporting live from today’s UFC Fight Night 102 event at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., which kicks off at 5:45 p.m. ET (2:45 p.m. PT). You can discuss the event here.